Outcast: The Story of Oracle
by Ten Past Twelve
Summary: When the young Lucario Ore is exiled from his clan, he is forced to make a living for himself. But that's never been one of his strong points, and he quickly gets caught up in an overly complicated plot to locate the enigmatic Captain. Prequel to Targets.


**Outcast: The Story of Oracle**

"Time is that great gift of nature that keeps everything from happening at once."

I gouged another handhold in the cliff wall, the only light coming from that huge yellow disc in the dark sky. If I'd evolved sooner, then I wouldn't have needed the light to navigate. I could have been out of this canyon by now. But I wasn't ready to evolve yet.

"Sound the alarm! A prisoner has escaped!" The sleeping guard shook himself awake, then lashed out with one of his legs and hit the alarm button. I cringed, sure that he would find me with the Aura. However, he totally ignored the rocky wall next to his cave and hurled himself out of the mouth, probably heading for the master cave, at the other end of the gorge. Good, that bought me time. I picked up my pace, scrabbling up to the next ledge in half the time it normally took for me. In the distance, several orbs of bright light glittered playfully, nearing me all the time. Aura spheres. Drat, they took less time to get organised than I'd thought. I lunged at a rock jutting out from the wall, only to accidentally wrench it out and watch it fall to the ground. I turned back to my problem, and tested the floor out. Maybe I could leap up to the next ledge. One stomp, two stomp, three- the earth beneath me gave way, suddenly turning into loose debris and scree. My paw flew up to the cliff, but it missed and I fell to the ground.

The rubble from the ex-ledge broke my fall, but it still hurt to move. But if I didn't move quickly, the guards would get me. I hauled myself on to my feet, futilely checked for bruises- the light from the sky disc was mostly blocked by the gorge walls- and hobbled back to the cliff face. Now that I was back on the ground, the side of the canyon looked endless, stretching up into the night sky forever. I spat on my paws then rubbed them together.

"There he is!" I spun around, my paws raised in a defensive posture.

"Now, kid, don't worry. We're gonna take you back home." Rather than answer, I threw myself at the nearest guard, my blue paws striking everything in reach. His nose, chest, ears, whatever. I cut my fists a few times on his chest spike, but he was being driven back. As I had that cheerful thought, an invisible force stopped it in it's tracks. I was totally immobile.

"Okay, enough of that. You're coming back home." My still form hovered into the air, and I tried to narrow my eyes. A growl somehow burst from my throat, but it turned into a yelp of surprise. My arms were lengthening, and I had the sudden urge to close my eyes. As I did so, fur burst from my torso, and all of my body parts expanded as one. My captors took an involuntary step backwards, and they mimicked my previous defence position. Each of them growled warningly, but I paid them no heed. The power of evolution was still within me, and I had a new awareness of the situation. They were _scared_ of me. It was in the bag.

0

In the bag. Yeah, right. About a minute after I'd evolved and was whupping their asses, the _real_ cavalry arrived, and they managed to subdue and capture me in three seconds flat. But I wasn't going back to the prison. No, Lucario weren't so innocent, apparently. I was going to be exiled. But that was fine. The problem was that as a part of Lucario tradition, I was going to have my hands tied behind my back. And a muzzle (Where did a bunch of bipedal dogs who lived in caves find a _muzzle_?). In other words, I was probably going to die of starvation in three weeks. Which sucked.

"Now, we bid farewell to the criminal Ore. Hope you die, traitor!" The entire crowd roared back in approval, shunning me forever. I held my head high, and stalked out of the canyon. The head of the guards shouted something, but I wasn't listening. Instead, I was trying to work my paws free from the thick rope binding them together as I walked towards the gate. A Tamato berry flew through the air and hit me in the knee. The spiky outer covering wasn't enough to break through my steel-hard skin, but it would have bruised me as a Riolu. I glanced back at the angry mob that had gathered behind me, and saw that they were throwing rocks and things at me. I broke into a sprint, and within seconds, the whole hated Aura Valley was nothing but a few towers in the distance.

0

The sunlight beat down upon me, and I felt like panting. Course, the muzzle was still there, and I still hadn't freed my hands from their bindings, so I could count on it being there for a while.

_So, where are you going now? _an inner voice asked me. _You can't go back, that's for sure_.

"That was the plan," I growled silently in reply.

_You're actually going to try and find this 'Captain',_ said the voice flatly. It wasn't a question, but I answered it like one.

"Yup."

The voice considered this for a minute. _You know, I think that your guru was right when he said that you were insane._

"Why'd you think that?"

_Isn't it a little odd for strange voices to start speaking in your head? Especially female ones?_

My brow furrowed as I processed the information. "So... are you saying that you're a psychic girl looking into my mind?"

_You could say it that way,_ the voice 'muttered', _but I'd rather you didn't. You know how creepish that sounds?_

"You're a psychic, isn't it normal terminology for your lot?"

_The 'normal terminology' is telepathy._

"Big difference," I grumbled. "Can you show yourself now? Or use that weird psychic grip thing to get this damn muzzle off of me? 'Cause that would be great."

0

Long story short, the voice said no. Of course, that never stopped anyone, and I spent the whole day searching for her, looking in caves and other hidey-holes to no avail. When the bright light in the sky vanished and the yellow disc replaced it, I was forced to concede defeat and instead decided to return to one of the caves that I'd looked for the voice in. I wasn't one who'd pass up a nap. As I got comfortable on a handy bed of moss, I suddenly remembered why I had gotten myself exiled in the first place and shot bolt upright. Then snores reverberated throughout the cavern.

What, didn't I say I was sleepy?

0

"_We're running out of time, Ore._"

"I noticed," I replied shortly, still sifting for the engraving in the floor. "It was here somewhere, I'm sure of it."

"_Sol's still waiting outside. Should I get him?_"

My paws hit something metallic and I grunted in satisfaction. "Sure, be my guest. I got the trapdoor."

I heard the psychic float out of the dungeon and host a quick whispered discussion with her twin brother. Then the two returned, the swordsman and the sorceress.

"_Are you sure it's the way?_"

"Or my name's Clash. Let's go!" I pushed my claws into the crack between the door and the ancient stonework, and hauled the large block of metal upwards. "Come on, you two, I can't... hold it much longer!" My arms had almost slipped, but I regained my grip on the heavy thing before it could crush my feet. Luna entered first, her ballroom gown fluttering elegantly in a phantom wind. Knowing her, it probably really was. Sol hesitated, loath to leave what was in his eyes 'an innocent civilian' with such a Herculean task. "Don't worry, Sol. You can help me from inside the tunnel! Just hurry- shit."

A bunch of those damn dragons had reappeared. The leader, a Garchomp, shouted a few commands, and the Bagon, Gabite and Dragonite surged forward, each one preparing a dangerous attack.

"_Continue without me! I shall find another way!_"

"No, Sol! The gate will seal itself when I go in! You gotta come, or Luna will kill me!"

"_You must leave, Ore. On pain of death._"

Something in me snapped at those desolate words. Forget that bastard Gallade! I'd save myself and Luna. See if I cared! At those crazy thoughts, I jumped from the edge of the trapdoor and shut out the fight above us. Shut ourselves in.

0

**Okay... what do ya think? Remember, hit the review button before you carry on with the story. In Sol's words... on pain of death.**

**Oh, and that last paragraph is _not_ what you think it is. Nope, not even that.**


End file.
